Decorative overwrap cabinet structure

ABSTRACT

A DECORATIVE CABINET, INCLUDING A STRUCTURAL CASE AND AN OVERWRAP HAVING AT LEAST ONE PLASTIC PANEL SECURED OVER THE CASE WALL, WHICH PANEL HAS AN INTEGRAL CORNER SECTION COVERING THE ADJACENT CASE CORNER AND SPRING CLIP MEANS HOLDING COEXTENSIVE EDGES OF THE CASE AND OVERWRAP TOGETHER, AND COOPERATING CAMMING TABS, FLANGE AND PANEL CONFIGURATIONS FOR SNUGLY SECURING SEPARATE OVERWRAP PANELS TO THE CASE.

United States Patent Richard G. Gersch Detroit:

Kip J. Hoag, Albion, Mich. 868,343

Oct. 22, 1969 June 28, 1971 McGraw-Edision Company Elgin, lll.

Inventors Appl. No. Filed Patented Assignee DECORATIVE OVERWRAP CABINET STRUCTURE 8 Claims, 11 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl..... 312/204 Int. Cl ..'A47h 17/04, A47b 97/00 Field of Search 312/104;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,589,699 3/1952 Johnson 3 l2/204X 3,074,772 1/1963 Kessler et a1 312/204 3,408,127 10/1968 Vincens 312/204X 3,494,308 2/1970 Perrin 312/204X Primary Examiner- Paul R. Gilliam AltorneyCharles F. Lind ABSTRACT: A decorative cabinet, including a structural case and an overwrap having at least one plastic panel secured over the case wall, which panel has an integral corner section covering the adjacent case corner and spring clip means holding coextensive edges of the case and overwrap together, and cooperating camming tabs, flange and panel configurations for snugly securing separate overwrap panels to the case.

PATENTED JUN28 Ian SHEET 1 BF 2 FIGI INVENTORS. RICHARD G. GERSCH KIP J.

ATTORNEY DECORATIVE OVEBWRAI CABINET STRUCTURE This invention relates to means for decorating a case with overwrap including the use specifically of a plastic panel wood-grained on its outer face even around 90 comer sections, and to means for securing the panels to the case.

By using injection molded plastic panels, it is possible to decorate an otherwise plain case to form an attractive piece of furniture. Specifically, a wood-grained plastic overwrap panel, made at a relatively low cost, can be secured to an underlying case of sheet metal to simulate an expensive wooden cabinet.

This invention discloses improved means for decorating a case at least across the main front wall and adjacent vertical corners although it more generally could decorate all exposed walls. A decorative overwrap is secured against the case wall and has an integral corner section that encloses the adjacent case corner and overlies part of the adjacent case wall. The overwrap is wood-grained on the exterior to give the illusion of an expensive wooded cabinet. Moreover, specific overlapping panel sections and camming tabs are used to urge the sections together to minimize unwanted gaps, and elongated U-shaped spring clips secure the overwrap to the case while hiding the upper edges of both.

Accordingly, a main object of this invention is to provide structure for decorating a case, particularly with a woodgrained plastic overwrap and means for securing the overwrap to the case.

A more detailed object of this invention is to provide an overwrap having a main panel and an integral comer section adapted when in secured place on the case to cover one case wall and the adjacent case comer, the overwrap being woodgrained on the exterior face to simulate a wooden cabinet.

Another object of this invention is to provide a decorative overwrap having separate panels each adapted to be secured in place over a case wall, and more specifically where one panel has a main section that covers one case wall and an integral corner section that traverses and covers the adjacent case corner and overlaps the other overwrap panel, and where cooperating camming tabs hold the overlapped panels tightly against one another.

Another object of this invention is to provide reinforcing ribs integral with the main section of the one overwrap panel according to the preceding object which extend inwardly from the hidden side thereof at an angle of the order of to slightly out of the perpendicular to the main panel section and diverging from the comer section overlap.

These and other objects will be more fully understood after reviewing the following specification including the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. l is a perspective view of a cabinet having a decorative overwrap according to a preferred embodiment of the subject invention, and where part of the overwrap is broken away and exploded from the underlying case for more clarity of disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of FIG. I, and showing specifically various overwrap panels partly broken away and disassembled from the underlying case;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged front elevational view of the left corner of the cabinet shown in FIG. 1, again being partly broken away for clarity of disclosure;

FIGS. 4, 5, 6 and 7 are sectional views taken generally from lines 4-4, 5-5, 6-6 and 7-7, respectively, in FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of cooperating molds suitable for forming the particular side panel shown in FIGS. l-7;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view, similar to FIG. 1, of a second embodiment of the subject invention;

FIG. 10 is a top plan view ofFIG. 9; and

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of cooperating molds suitable for forming the overwrap panel shown in FIGS. 9 and 10.

Referring to the embodiment of FIGS. 1-7, shown is a structural case I0 onto which decorative overwrap 12 is secured. Specifically, the case includes a front wall 14, opposed sidewalls 16, a bottom wall 18, and a rear wall 20. A cover 22 closes the open case top and is hinged along pin 24 to the upper edge of the rear wall 20. Although the construction details are of no particular concern, the case typically would be fabricated of sheet metal and be plain and unomamented. The overwrap 12 includes a front panel 26 and a pair of separate side or end panels 28.

The overwrap panels 26 and 28 can be formed of a plastic material by injection molding between complementary molds, with molds 29 and 30 (FIG. 8) being shown as typical for forming the end panels 28. A rough wood-grained surface can be provided in the mold face 31 to cause corresponding impressions on the exterior of overwrap. Proper staining of the overwrap to a realistic wood color completes the illusion of wood. The trim designs desired, such as the raised sections 32 and 34 from the otherwise planer main section 36; the base trim 37. molding 38, and pedestal 39; corner posts 40; and upper trim 41 and molding 42 can be provided by shaping and relieving the mold faces as required. Moreover, by properly shaped and cooperating overwrap panels including such features as fully grained comer sections, overlapping marginal flanges and matched butted panel sections, open gaps between the overwrap panels can be minimized to even more enhance the expensive look of a wooden cabinet. This three-dimensional wood-grained overwrap simulates the high quality of wooden furniture, but is both more durable and economical than such.

Considering now some important construction details of this invention, each end panel 28 includes a main body portion 50 and a front comer portion 52 which terminates in a flange 54 extended at right angles to the main body portion 50. The comer 52 is grained completely on the exterior of both faces to simulate a one-piece corner post, and the flange is adapted to overlap the adjacent marginal edge 55 of the front panel 26. The flange fits snugly between the lower molding 3B and upper molding 42 on the front panel and the flange thickness is the same as the apparent thickness of the lower trim 37 and upper trim 42, so that the exposed front surfaces blend together. Likewise the apparent thickness of trim and molding of the end panels and front panel are similar to blend together smoothly adjacent the butted cooperation of same. This cooperating structure minimizes exposed corner edges or gaps. The cover 22 likewise has a flange 58 which overlaps the upper edges of the case and overwrap and blends in with the upper molding 42.

The overwrap is secured to the case 10 by rapidly applied, economical, and virtually unnoticed securing means. Specifically, the upper edges 60 and 62 of the case and the overwrap terminate coextensively, and a C-shaped spring retainer 64 is snapped over the adjacent upper edges. The spring retainer preferably is an elongated extruded plastic element colored to match the cabinet exterior. Since it hides the exposed upper edges of the case and overwrap, a quality cabinet appearance is maintained. A barb 65 at the lower end of one retainer leg snaps behind a bead atthe upper panel edge to help hold the retainer in place when once assembled. The lower end of the overwrap is secured in place by metal screws 66 which extend through overwrap openings 67 to engage with the case adjacent underlying case openings 68. The screws are preferably located immediately below the lower base molding 38 to be hidden except where the required horizontal line of sight conditions demands that the observer be too far away from the cabinet to even detect the screws.

Special consideration is needed regarding the construction of the overwrap where it is exteriorly enlarged somewhat from its usual plane to give the illusion of a decorative molding, such as at the base molding 39 (FIGS. 3 and 6). If these thickened overwrap sections were made solid to butt against the case, warping or cracking of the overwrap could become a problem because of uneven stresses during fabrication and thereafier. Consequently, at these simulated thickened sections it is desirable to have voids behind a generally uniform overwrap wall and to strengthen this wall with underside ribs 70. It also is desirable to have a spacer 72 sandwiched between the panel and case where each securing screw is located to eliminate possible stress cracks in the overwrap.

As disclosed herein in FIG. the side panel is typically molded between molds 29 and 30 having cooperating parting faces 75 that lie in planes generally perpendicular to the direction in which the molds advance and separate relative to one another. The lower mold face 31. on which the necessary wood-graining surface characteristics is provided, is sloped to l5 out of parallel with the normal mold parting faces 75. This incline permits the molded piece 28 to be removed from the lower mold by pivoting about flange edge 76 or rear edge 77 without washing the grain finish from the exterior surface of the overwrap. Since the upper mold 30 separates from the lower mold 29 normally to the parting joint 75, ribs 70 formed on the under side of the panel extend approximately 5 to l5 out of normal relative to the main panel section 50. The spacer 70 preferably is shaped to be complementary to these sloping ribs as well as being flush against the overwrap inner wall and case.

An additional important cooperation of the overwrap panels with one another provides that upper and lower tabs 80 are formed on each side panel 28 and fit behind corresponding edges M on the front panel 26. A tab eamming surface 82 facing the side panel flange cooperates with the front panel edge upon the side panel being drawn toward the front panel by the securing means to draw and hold the flange 54 snugly against the front panel marginal edge.

It is thus noted that the particular invention provides means to give an expensive appearance at a relatively low cost to an otherwise plain and undecorated case. The components as disclosed in FIGS. 1-7 cooperate well with each other and with the underlying case to decorate the structure and give the illusion of a high cost quality wooden cabinet.

FIGS. 9 and show an alternate embodiment of the case construction corresponding specifically to FIGS. 1 and 2 noted earlier. This embodiment shows a case 108 having an overwrap 110 including a main central section 112 and two adjoining corner sections 114, each of which curves about the adjacent comer of the case and tenninates in a flange H6. The adjacent case sides 118 can be vinyl clad, painted, or could have a separate planer grained panel overwrap secured thereon. in this embodiment, the central section 112 and each corner section are wood-grained including even the flanges. The forward part 120 of the exterior flange face slopes 5 to l5 out ofthe normal to the main central section H2 so that as between both exterior flange faces there is approximately a rearward diverging angle of l00 to 120. The rearward part 22 of the exterior flange face slopes back toward the case so that the flange free ends converge at an included angle of greater than l0 but preferably approximately 90 to the end edge 124. The inner faces I26 of the flanges have only nominal diverging draft and thus are approximately parallel to the underlying case sidewall and to each other. The parting face 128 between the lower mold 129 and upper mold 130 is located at the juncture between these exterior flange surfaces and each exterior mold face is grained to grain the exterior flange surface completely around the comer. With this embodiment, only one overwrap panel is needed while yet providing a wood-grained front and corner posts. The overwrap can be secured onto the case by the spring retainer and by the screws or other fastening means noted above.

We claim:

1. A decorative cabinet comprising an inner case including adjacent walls interconnected at an exterior comer, an overwrap including separate panels overlying said respective inner case walls and said corner, one of said panels having adjacent main and corner sections the latter tenninating in a marginal flange angled relative to the main section and overlying a marginal side edge of the adjacent other panel, cooperating camming means between the panels including a surface on either panel sloping inwardly away from the flange and engaged against the underside of the opposite panel operable to force the flange and side edge together, and means holding the panels against the inner case walls.

2. A decorative cabinet according to claim ll, wherein the edges of said panels and adjacent inner case wall transverse to the mentioned comer terminate coextenslvely, and wherein said panel holding means include C-shaped clip means disposed over said coextensive panel and wall edges.

3. The decorative cabinet according to claim 2, wherein the clip means is an elongated element that extends substantially the full length of the coextensive edges of the panel and wall and hides same.

4. A decorative cabinet according to claim 1, wherein said inner case walls interconnect at an exterior right angle corner, and wherein reinforcing structure is formed on the underside of the one panel adjacent the inner case and includes spaced ribs sloping inwardly away from said flange at a slight angle approximately 5 to 10 out of parallel thereto.

5. The decorative cabinet according to claim 4, further including a spacer having complementary sloping faces fitted between said reinforcing ribs and also having opposing faces sandwiched between the underside of the one panel and the adjacent inner case wall, and fastening means extending parallel to the flange through openings aligned in the one panel and spacer from outside of the overwrap and into an aligned opening in the inner case wall for releasably attaching the overwrap to the case.

6. A decorative cabinet comprising an inner case including adjacent walls interconnected at an exterior corner, an overwrap including a panel having a main section overlying one of said walls and an adjacent corner section overlying the corner and terminating in a marginal flange angled relative to the main section and overlying the-marginal side edge of the adjacent other walls, the exterior surface of the overwrap at the main and corner sections having a wood-grained finish, the upper edges of the panel and of the one wall terminating coextensively, clip means disposed over said coextensive edges holding said panel and wall together, and a removable cover having a depending flange adapted to overlie the coextensive edges and hide same as well as the clip means.

7. A decorative cabinet according to claim 6, wherein said clip means is formed as an elongated one-piece element extending substantially the full length of the coextensive edges effective to hide said edges even with the cover removed.

8. A decorative cabinet according to claim 6, wherein a third case wall interconnects with the one case wall along an exterior corner parallel to said first mentioned case corner, wherein a second overwrap corner section having a marginal flange adapted to overlie the second case corner and marginal edge of the third case wall is fonned from the overwrap parallel to and opposite the first mentioned overwrap corner section, each of said overwrap comer sections including a first exterior face angling from the main section at an angle slightly less then the underlying case corner and also includes a second exterior face angling from the first face at a slight exterior angle generally of the order less than 50. 

